American Century Companies Inc. Purchases 113,899 Shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 12.4% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,032,741 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 113,899 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc.’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $168,264,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Dunhill Financial LLC lifted its stake in Zoetis by 80.6% in the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 168 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Zoetis by 482.8% in the fourth quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 169 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. lifted its stake in Zoetis by 5,533.3% in the fourth quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 169 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP lifted its stake in Zoetis by 45.9% in the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 305 shares of the company’s stock worth $60,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Asset Planning Inc bought a new stake in shares of Zoetis during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $58,000. Institutional investors own 92.80% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ZTS has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Leerink Partners initiated coverage on shares of Zoetis in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $215.00 price target for the company. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on shares of Zoetis from $210.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Zoetis from $243.00 to $238.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Zoetis from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Zoetis from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Zoetis has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $215.90.

Zoetis Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ZTS opened at $162.86 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $72.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.94. Zoetis Inc. has a 52 week low of $144.80 and a 52 week high of $200.33. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $166.76 and a 200 day moving average of $175.47.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.37 by $0.03. Zoetis had a net margin of 26.86% and a return on equity of 53.82%. The business had revenue of $2.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.30 billion. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Zoetis Inc. will post 6.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Zoetis Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 21st will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 21st. Zoetis’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.56%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 326 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.18, for a total transaction of $55,804.68. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,107 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,757,196.26. The trade was a 1.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Willie M. Reed sold 1,210 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.14, for a total transaction of $201,029.40. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 11,245 shares in the company, valued at $1,868,244.30. This trade represents a 9.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 1,862 shares of company stock valued at $312,254. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Zoetis Profile

Zoetis Inc engages in the discovery, development, manufacture, and commercialization of animal health medicines, vaccines, and diagnostic products and services in the United States and internationally. The company commercializes products primarily across species, including livestock, such as cattle, swine, poultry, fish, and sheep and others; and companion animals comprising dogs, cats, and horses.